Ok...
I certainly don't live in High School. Many here have seen my disparaging comments about guys who played in High School. I was always hoping it was implied my hard spot wasn't with HIgh School football, or guys whose career stopped at the HS Level. My problem is with guys who believe their experience at the HS Level somehow gives them insight as to how the game is played on the field at the pro level. The games are night and day, and I tend to get annoyed at those who can't see it that way.
I honestly don't like my home town. It's small, and the people there always seem to "know" what everyone else is doing. Also, it tends to have a lot of people who seem to think life ended at high school. It bugs me when I see someone from there and their first words are Remember when?? In fact it sickens me. What is worse is when I attend a game, and have to hear from some fucking inbred slob about he "knocked the big pro" on his ass when I was (put in a grade, I started on my varsity in 8th grade, made all conference 4 years, all state 2, all american twice, and my 8th grade year was 2nd team all conference, I also own 17 Varsity records that have stood since 1978). Ok i don't mind that I got knocked on my ass. It happens, and truthfully if it floats someones boat then so be it. What I HATE is having these fuckrod Ohiobillies somehow implying that because they knocked me down in practice that they were ripped off of a pro career. Usually they're trying to impress their trailor trash wife or girlfriend. My usual reply is, Yeah it's sad I had to settle for the pros when you got a reserved seat at (name a local watering hole).
Saying that, I love High School Sports. It has it's troubles at times but it's so pure. And Ohio plays the best HS Football in the country. I particularly love the smaller schools. And my school is small. One of the things I like is when there's a "big' game in my hometown. I'll usually attend with a few relatives (I was fortunate enough to start on defense with one brother and 4 cousins). One of my favorite things is to see my old coaches. My guess is any guy who had a good HS Coach never forgot the man, or men. I certainly didn't. I've given my coaches and many of my HS teachers credit for every positive thing I've ever done. I like shooting the shit with my ex coaches, and just talking football with them. I also like to see their faces when I call them coach, a habit I've never been able to break, also a habit I'm not sure I want to break. This past FRiday I ended up walking the "fence" with 4 of my ex coaches. I've never been able to sit at a game, and much prefer following the ball. I get a better feel for the game that way. One thing I was sort of surprised about, All the coaches present had a different moment where they "knew" I'd be a pro. I found that strange.
Anyways, between me, my brother and the coaches we pretty much agreed my HS was gonna have a world of trouble with the team they were playing. In fact we figured if we scored a couple touchdowns and only lost by 21 or so, that we'd be fortunate. The other team was very fast, very quick, and had only lost by 1 point to the #1 ranked team in the state. They also run a No back shotgun spread offense, something not seen at the HS level. My HS was slower, played in a much weaker conference and had lost twice (but to teams that made the playoffs). So we figured a blowout.
Try telling kids that.
I've always been amazed by High School kids. Tell them something is impossible and they'll prove you wrong, then act like they could have pulled it off all along. HS Athletes are playing because they love the game. Kids love the spotlight, and a good playoff game is a great place to shine. I've always been amazed at how kids just seem to handle the glare of the spotlight. Many people fade from the lights, some are bothered by it, some live for it, but kids just never seem to notice it's there. They're playing for the love of the game. Competing for the sake of competing, and if any showboating is done it's rarely out of malice or to rub it in, it's mostly done to show Mom, Dad or a girlfriend a little bit of Lookie What I Just Did...
The game started much as we expected. The visiting team was a lot faster, and any athlete can tell you speed and quickness are things you just can't train for. No matter how prepared you think you are, until you see true speed you can't adjust. That happened here, the visitors scored twice real quickly. I'd just turned to tell my former HS Coach that we should all go watch another local schools game provided the visitors scored again. Then out of the blue, one of the local boys decides it's time to give MOm, Dad, or that girlfriend a Lookie At What I Just Did moment. The visitors had the ball, driving for that third score, when a defensive end from my HS ended up right in the middle of a screen pass. Obviously no one told him that there were at least 5 guys on the visitors that were faster than him, because he happily scampered 83 yards for a touchdown. A very quiet crowd was all of a sudden ecstatic. The local kids were jumping, yelling, pumping fists. The young lad simply walked over to the bench and sat, then drank some water. Just as if he outran faster kids everyday of the week and it'd take something really out of the ordinary for him to get his gander up.
At half time it was 14-7.
Second half, the visitors score quickly. Then get the ball back and start another long drive. Guess what? Out of the blue a hand pokes a ball out. The local kids have the ball. And drive for a long score. The kid who scores the touchdown is the same boy who scored the long interception return. He scored this time on a 38 yard pass. Outrunning and outfighting the defensive back for the ball. This boy rarely plays offense, and was only in to give the normal end a breather. Just prior to the play , during a timeout, he told the coach, Ya know I outran em once coach....
Unbelievable.
Three plays later, more action. Yet another fumble. We have the ball, and only need 13 yards for a score. We make it to the 8 yard line, On 4 th down one of their lads makes a leaping dive, barely gets a finger on the ball and saves a TD. He gets up, just walks to the huddle, at this level of HS Ball players go both ways. He doesn't have time to celebrate, after all there's a game to win.
The visitors go 92 Yards and score. A beautiful drive showcasing their athletic talent. The key play is a 3rd and 12 where their quarterback runs a bootleg, gets outside of containment and makes 13 yards, just prior to getting absolutely crushed on the sidelines. There's blood coming out of his nose, he gets up limping. Then on the next play throws a 33 yard pass. Kids.
WE get the ball. And in a great display of football drive it almost 70 yards. Scoring a touchdown about one minute into the 4th Quarter. We're down 28 to 21. The visitors look a tad bit slower than when they first showed up, and they;ve found out something, When you come to Northern Ohio to play football you best be ready to get your dick knocked off. Northern Ohio teams tend to be VERY physical, mostly due to uncertain weather conditions. There aren't a lot of frills in Northern Ohio Ball. When it's raining in October, or the temp is 8 below one can't get fancy with the ball so the teams tend to be brutally physical. It showed in this Quarter.
The 4th Quarter went up and down the field. The visitors had a long TD called back due to a penalty. This would have made the score 35-21. Instead we tighten up, Our kids get the ball back with about 4 minutes to go. We start driving. WE have the ball, 4th and 5 on their 49 Yard line. There's about 2 1/2 minutes to go. They have 7 defensive backs in the game. Things didn't look good. Then what happens? Number 84 comes to the rescue again. In 3 years of HS Ball he'd never caught a pass, never had an interception, never really touched the ball outside of practice. He manages to find himself 30 yards downfield, again wide open. Catches a pass and slips. But there's plenty of time. We have the ball on the 19. We have three time outs. AND on the next play we gain 15 yards! Ball on the 4. The visitors are tired, and suddenly their better athletic ability makes no difference.
We've neutralized it with physical and opportunistic play.
Now we have the ball on THEIR 4 yard line. They're tired, we have the momentum, the kids are pumped. AND we have 4 shots to get the ball in and maybe force overtime. And now, FINALLY we can play our type of ball. Use our bigger kids to ram the ball in.
I guess no one ever told THEIR kids any of this stuff.
1st Down: They stop our tailback cold
2nd Down: Off Tackle, a play that worked well all night, gets met by a wall of Blue and orange kids. No gain.
3rd down : Dumbass Call by the way.. We run a bootleg. Our QB barely gets the ball off to save a 7 yard sack.
4th down: QB Runs a roll out. He looks like he's going to break containment, when a visitor player makes a hell of a play, splits the blockers and makes a great tackle.
Time runs out.. We lose. Great game. And the sad part is 47 kids think their losers. And one, is kicking himself because he slipped on what he might feel was the biggest play of his life, totally forgetting that he already made two bigger plays.
I love the High School game.
Tron
), but thats ok. It was one of the things that made me laugh and cry and cheer and all those things, and i really miss it. (We miss you Andy :sniff: ). But we didnt just go to see the team, i knew a lot of the cheerleaders too, so we went to talk to them after the game too. And then there were the parties. Athletes and crazy people throw the best parties. Lots of memories, good and bad.
